Michael McIntyre shocked at 'hostility' from other comedians
In an in-depth interview with Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, Michael McIntyre has admitted to being surprised at the 'hostility' shown towards him by some comedians.
Interviewer Kirsty Young observed: "The success you've had generates a lot of attention, it also generates a lot of envy, and sometimes derision. Some people are very rude about your comedy. Stewart Lee said that he felt that you were 'spoon feeding your audience warm diarrhea'."
Asked about what he thought about such comments, McIntyre responded: "I think it comes with the territory. I'm sure it does, actually. Of course, I can't say it is water off a duck's back and I'm so thick skinned I could just say that - I can say it now because I'm getting used to it, but it did come as a shock at the beginning, I can't deny that. It was confusing because my big break came - certainly at the beginning - with an amazing amount of hostility."
He went on to say: "I would never be rude about someone else in my profession, because we're all doing the same thing - trying to make people laugh. I have my audience and other people have their audience."
"I went to The British Comedy Awards and quite a few people were making jokes at my expense and it just made me feel awful. I was there with my wife and she had gone out and bought a new dress, and it was my big night and I won... and the over-riding experience was that of nastiness. For what reason I don't know. What I was doing was just making people laugh."
In the 45 minute programme, McIntyre also admitted he still worries a lot at night, told the tale of how he met and courted his wife, discussed the impact of his parents divorce, and talked about how the death of his father has influenced his comedy.
Ray Cameron, who was a writer on The Kenny Everett Show, died of a heart attack in America aged just 53, when his son was still a teenager. McIntyre said: "I genuinely think my comedy and the person I am is because of who I am and how I came about - and that does include, unfortunately, my dad not being around. It did push me further into an insular place, into my own world. I wonder sometimes if he was around and also in the business whether it might have gone the same way."
The comedian also talked about how he struggled for many years on the circuit before getting a huge break appearing on The Royal Variety Performance. He told Kirsty Young: "I was on the circuit for years, I did get more and more in debt - it really did drag on and I just couldn't get a break. But when my chance came, I'd envisaged it so many times, I wasn't even nervous. I knew I could do it."
The format of Desert Island Discs sees the guest selecting to play music they like and is important to their life. McIntyre selected the following tracks:
Unfinished Sympathy by Massive Attack - which he said reminded him of when he was 17 years old.
The Logical Song by Supertramp - a track he said he had an 'instant affinity' with the first time he heard it. He later learned his mother played it every day during her pregnancy.
Don't Play that Song by Aretha Franklin. McIntyre said he thought Franklin was the 'best singer alive' and this song was particularly poignant as it reminds him of the time he was alone at university.
Abracadabra by the Steve Miller Band, his 'first favourite song'.
Smile by Nat King Cole - which he picked as he listened to it at the time when he stopped going to university lectures and started to write comedy.
Miss You by The Rolling Stones. This song reminded him of when he went to the Edinburgh Festival without his wife and focusing on trying to succeed, and then realising he was missing her.
Oh Yoko! by John Lennon - a song he and his wife sing together.
Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered by Ella Fitzgerald - the first dance at his wedding.
The book McIntyre chose to take to the programme's fictional desert island was The Complete Prose of Woody Allen, and his luxury item was a pen (but no paper), so he could write jokes.
Michael McIntyre is widely seen as currently Britain's most successful comedian. His stand-up DVDs have broken industry records, and the comic is set to embark on a huge tour in 2012, where he is expected to sell out, multiple times-over, arenas including The O2, The NIA, Manchester and Wembley. Tickets
The Desert Island Discs interview is permanently archived on the BBC iPlayer. Listen